Ashton Thomas Securities LLC Grows Stock Position in Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN)

Ashton Thomas Securities LLC raised its stake in Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN - Free Report) by 13.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 38,371 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock after buying an additional 4,401 shares during the period. Amazon.com makes up about 2.3% of Ashton Thomas Securities LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest holding. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC's holdings in Amazon.com were worth $8,414,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Amazon.com by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 823,360,597 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock worth $180,637,081,000 after purchasing an additional 17,635,391 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in Amazon.com by 17,054.5% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 12,088,589 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock valued at $2,652,116,000 after buying an additional 12,018,120 shares during the period. Parnassus Investments LLC lifted its position in Amazon.com by 82,457.3% in the 3rd quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 11,405,294 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock worth $2,125,148,000 after buying an additional 11,391,479 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Amazon.com by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 359,179,990 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock valued at $66,926,008,000 after buying an additional 11,370,309 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Amazon.com by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 199,915,046 shares of the e-commerce giant's stock valued at $37,116,341,000 after acquiring an additional 6,545,944 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.20% of the company's stock.

Amazon.com Trading Up 1.3 %

NASDAQ:AMZN traded up $2.45 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $188.99. 36,349,105 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 41,913,658. The company has a fifty day moving average of $193.52 and a 200 day moving average of $207.75. Amazon.com, Inc. has a 12 month low of $151.61 and a 12 month high of $242.52. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.00 trillion, a P/E ratio of 34.18, a PEG ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a current ratio of 1.06.

Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The e-commerce giant reported $1.86 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.52 by $0.34. Amazon.com had a return on equity of 24.25% and a net margin of 9.29%. On average, research analysts predict that Amazon.com, Inc. will post 6.31 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Shelley Reynolds sold 8,833 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $222.47, for a total transaction of $1,965,077.51. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 119,780 shares in the company, valued at $26,647,456.60. This represents a 6.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Douglas J. Herrington sold 27,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $230.27, for a total value of $6,332,425.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 497,067 shares of the company's stock, valued at $114,459,618.09. This represents a 5.24 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 104,798 shares of company stock worth $23,341,803. Corporate insiders own 10.80% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AMZN has been the subject of several recent research reports. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on Amazon.com from $230.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Wolfe Research raised their price target on Amazon.com from $250.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Telsey Advisory Group lowered their price target on Amazon.com from $275.00 to $235.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Loop Capital raised their price objective on shares of Amazon.com from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Benchmark lifted their target price on shares of Amazon.com from $215.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and forty-five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $247.56.

Amazon.com Company Profile

Amazon.com, Inc engages in the retail sale of consumer products, advertising, and subscriptions service through online and physical stores in North America and internationally. The company operates through three segments: North America, International, and Amazon Web Services (AWS). It also manufactures and sells electronic devices, including Kindle, Fire tablets, Fire TVs, Echo, Ring, Blink, and eero; and develops and produces media content.